All posts for the month April, 2017

My friend posted the picture below on her blog and I loved it instantly. I wish there was a bunch of videos attached to it that featured people following the sign’s instructions. Maybe someone will post such things one day. Write a scene that includes an instructional sign of your own creation that was most likely meant as a joke. Does your character appreciate the joke? Does she follow the instructions?

This week I’m bringing you all the Ghazal again. A traditional Ghazal consists of five to fifteen couplets. A refrain appears at the end of both lines of the first couplet and at the end of the second line in each succeeding couplet. So that will look something like 1R,1R/A,1R/B,1R/C,1R/D,1R as the pattern persists. It will continue for as many stanzas as you want till the fifteenth. Now that is just the traditional rules. If you hit fifteen and you still feel you’ve got lines in you keep writing. Even if you end up cutting some of them in later drafts of the poem you should follow your inspiration. There aren’t any syllable counts or meters to worry about with this form. Just see where that refrain will take you.

Juxtaprose Literary Magazine is looking for entries to their poetry contest. This one is a bit pricy: $15 entry fee. You can submit between 1-3 poems per entry each under 50 lines. The winner will be awarded $500 and publication in JuxtaProse Literary Magazine. Up to three additional poems, each by a different author, may be awarded “Honorable Mention” status, for which they will receive $50 and publication. The deadline is May 31, 2017. For more details visit them online: https://juxtaprosemagazine.submittable.com/submit

This one is a bit odd. Terrapin Books is working on an anthology of poems about donuts to be published fall 2017. That’s right I said donuts. So if you find that you love donuts enough to dedicate a poem or two to them, this is the publication for you. The anthology will be edited by Jason Lee Brown and Shanie Latham. The deadline is May 31, 2017. There is no entry fee. Submit up to five poems online: https://terrapinbooks.submittable.com/submit.

I’ve been listening to Amy Poehler’s audiobook Yes Please to and from work this week. I’m still in the process of learning to love audiobooks. There are some that I don’t care for because the reader’s voice will bother me for whatever reason. But in this case Amy Poehler and a group of her friends and family came together to read this audiobook and it was a very pleasant experience. The added personality of these other readers may not have come through the same on the printed page. I’m planning to buy a physical copy soon to see the difference. But I think there is a benefit to reading some stories aloud. Write a scene where a story is better told than read. What makes the difference do pronounced?

So long as you’re conducting yourself lawfully and healthily, there isn’t one single way to be an adult. We were all raised differently and so we all have different ideas of adulthood. Write a poem about what you think it means to be an adult. Whether it means being completely self-reliant or it means getting to do whatever you want, make sure you consider why you feel this is the way to do it. How much of your actions as an adult are influenced by how you were raised? Are you emulating the adults of your youth or trying not to become them?

My friend and I went to see Disenchanted last week while it was in town. It is a musical about the fairytale princesses and telling the “truths” of their stories. The songs are geared towards an adult audience and these are not the version of the princesses you might remember from Disney movies. Covering subjects like racial stereotypes, body image issues, and gender roles, the songs are wickedly funny. It was a great time. I found a performance “All I Wanna Do Is Eat” on YouTube and posted it below to give you all a taste. The musical definitely makes you question what princess movies teach our children. Write a scene in which you create the princess that you’d want to learn from.

When faced with a difficult task are you a stubborn person that tries everything you can think of or are you the type of person that gives up after a few attempts? Write a poem about finding the right moment to give up on something that could very well be beyond your abilities. Whichever end of the scale you land on, decide if your method is really the healthiest. If you think it is, tell us about why. If you’re aware that it’s not, share moments that made you consider a healthier point at which to give up.

I’ve always loved the idea of a tear away outfit. Not necessarily in stripper way. I usually imagine it in more of a spy way. Like the character pulls away the tux in one fluid motion to reveal a new disguise beneath it as they escape into the night. Write a scene that features a tear away outfit for some reason. Whyat reason really could your character need to change so quickly.

Facts about the human brain never cease to amaze me. The coolest and scariest thing of all is that we still don’t even fully understand the thing. Write a poem that makes use of any facts or understanding you have about the human brain that you find interesting. If you don’t know anything about the brain start googling. It’s an interesting trip down the research hole.